On May 4, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Clippers challenged the Mavericks away. In the first quarter, the Mavericks showed stronger momentum, especially Doncic scored 14 points and 4 assists in a single quarter, helping the Mavericks lead by 8 points. In the second quarter, the Mavericks' scoring efficiency slipped to just 18 points, and the Clippers took the opportunity to tie it. In the second half, Irving began to break out and take over the game, scoring 13 points in the third quarter, leading the team to play an efficient offense, the difference instantly stretched to 15 points, and Irving scored another 15 points in the final quarter, repeatedly hitting the momentum of the Clippers' counterattack. In the whole game, the Clippers 101-114 Mavericks, the series score was 2-4. The Clippers are out of the first round, triggering 4 chain reactions: George or leave the team, and Wei Shao returns to the Thunder?
The Clippers re-signed him in the middle of the season, mistakenly believing that he had become fit and had a much higher attendance, only to be injured again in the playoffs, playing only two games and averaging 12 points per game. He still has a three-year, $150 million contract, but it's basically locked up, and no team wants a star who only plays in the regular season. This also leads to the fact that it should be difficult for George to stay, he and Xiaoka have been working together for 5 years, but the results are not as good as year by year, and it is inevitable that he will be disheartened. According to the available information, the 76ers, Pacers, Magic and other teams are interested in George, and his contract has expired, and he will be sought after in the free agent market. So it's very likely that George will leave, whether he's leaving outright or the Clippers helping with a sign-and-trade.
Wei Shao's performance in the playoffs was very poor, after G1 got 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, the last 5 games totaled 8 of 42, none of which reached double digits, he has little help to the team, and he is too old, the Clippers should not renew his contract. For Wei Shao, the best place to belong is of course the Thunder, which is the city that likes him the most, and fans are waiting for Wei Shao's return. And the current strength of the Thunder is not bad, this year won the first place in the West, and also entered the second round of the playoffs, the Thunder may be able to realize the dream of the championship.
Harden is expected to get a contract extension from the Clippers, although his performance in the playoffs has been up and down, but overall he is still very good, with 20+ points in 3 games, 33 points in 1 game, and 2 games won by the Clippers are because of Harden's outburst, and there are 16 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists and 2 steals in today's game. After all, the Clippers only traded Harden this season, and they are about to change the arena and need popularity support, so the probability of keeping Harden is relatively high, and of course it may be a relatively short contract. Harden's ability to guarantee the bottom is really strong, and he has played 15 seasons in his career so far, and has never missed the playoffs, which can be regarded as a lucky player.
Finally, there is the whereabouts of Coach Lu, who earlier announced that he would let Ham go, and Coach Lu is one of the candidates for the Lakers' next head coach. Coaching the Lakers will undoubtedly have a higher ceiling, and James and Lue have worked together for a while and won championships, and the relationship between the two is very close. If James personally throws an olive branch to Coach Lu, I believe he will seriously consider giving up the Clippers and joining the Lakers.